Here's What It Means When Your Headache Is In A Specific Part Of Your Head

BI Answers: What does the location of the pain tell you about
your headache?

The National Headache Foundation estimates that
45 million Americans suffer from chronic, recurring
headaches. But not all headaches are the same, and where you're
feeling pain says something about how you should go about seeking
treatment.

There are actually many
different symptoms and disorders that fall under the umbrella
of headaches. Specific diagnoses vary depending on the type,
location, and cause of pain as well as the age group that
generally suffers. Although the causes for some types of
headaches, like
migraines and
cluster headaches, are not entirely known, you can learn
different strategies to reduce the pain depending on where you're
hurting.

Pain from headaches can occur everywhere from the back of the
neck to the top of the head. Headaches are not directly caused by
your brain. Rather, the most common type of headache — tension
headache — can come from the muscles and tissue in your face,
neck, and around your brain. This tissue has nerve cells that,
when
irritated or inflamed, send messages to your brain that then
signal to you that you're feeling pain.

Your face and neck are made up of nearly 30
different muscles. When these muscles become irritated, the
tension headache that could result will generally feel like a
band of dull pain across the forehead accompanied by a sensation
of pressure. The areas where tension headaches
often occur are:

Top of the head

Back of the head and the forehead

In and around the ears and temples

Eyes and eyebrows

Cheeks

Jaw

Throat and front and back of the neck

In and around the teeth and mouth

The pain can arise from infections like a cold or flu,
inflammation of the facial and neck muscles, or in more severe
cases,
cancer. Some muscles, like those in your neck, can radiate
pain to other parts of the head like your head and face, so you
feel pain in the neck and elsewhere. Most facial muscles, on the
other hand, localize the pain so you only feel it in the
particularly irritated spot.

If you're feeling pain in your face or jaw, that could be due to
your sinuses acting up. It could also result from dental or eye
problems or an ear infection. Headaches that come from issues
with your neck, called a cervicogenic headache, are often caused
by simply over-stressing your neck due to poor posture, fatigue,
disc problems,
and more.

Another rare form of headache is what is called a
trigeminal neuralgia , which affects about one in every 15 to
20 thousand people. Trigeminal neuralgia is a nerve disorder that
leads to sharp, stabbing pains in specific spots on the face.

That's why when seeking treatment it's important to know what
kind of headache you're suffering. Good questions to ask yourself
is:

How long has this headache been going on?

How frequent are the headaches?

Is the pain localized or all over?

Where is the pain located?

Am I sick or do I have any infection that might be the cause?

Using your answers, a doctor may be able to help you determine
the root cause of your headache and how to best treat it,
although there's still much to be learned about headaches. Still,
don't just assume that there is no treatment for your suffering.